Yielding and buoyant pile breakwater



(No Model.) v

' R. M. FRANKLIN.

YIELDING AYND BUOYANT PILB BREAKWATER. No. 260,016. Patented June27,1882.

' flyz 721 2.

\ \ifi, i v a? a? W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ROBERT M. FRANKLIN, OF GALVESTON, TEXAS.

I YIELDING AND BUOYANT PlLE BREAKWATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 260,016, dated June2'7, 1882.

' Application filed October 31,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. FRANKLIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Galvcston, in the county of Galveston and State of Texas,have invented a new and Improved Yielding and Buoyant Pile Breakwater;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawin gsand letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this myspecification of said invention, in which drawings Figure 1 shows a partofa line of piles constituting my improved breakwater erected upon aconcrete anchor-block. Fig. 2 represents a single pile of one section ofa line of piles constitutingabreakwater erected upon a short screw-pilein lieu of the concrete anchor-block shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is adetached view of the link employed to secure the piles shown in Fig. 1to the concrete anchor-block shown in Fig. 1.

The nature of the invention will fully appear from the subjoineddescription, when considered with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is the production of a cheap, durable, andefficient breakwater for localities exposed to the destructive action ofthe waves and it consists mainly in aline of sin gle-column buoyantpiles, arranged side-byside, and grouped together in sections, ashereinafter described, and anchored to their waterbed, and also incertain constructions and combination of parts hereinafter described andspecifically claimed.

piles composing one section andA A A are piles composing another sectionof the general line of piles constituting abreakwater,the piles of oneof said sections being shown in perspective view, while the piles of theother section are 50 shown in central longitudinal sectional view. Thepiles A A A composing one section of the piles, are near their topconnected together by single links l, as shown, and the piles A A Acomposing an adjoining section of piles, are also connected togethernear their top by single links I, while the two sections are connectedtogether by a chain, L, the length of which may be'adapted to the powerof the waves in a given locality, to wit: When the waves are ordinarilyvery powerful the chain L will be of greater length than when the Wavesare less powerful. Thisis done, notonly to allow one or more sections tosway or have motion in the direction of the line of the'breakwater, andso avoid sudden and severe strains upon the single-link connections Zwhen the power of the waves is expended upon the breakwater inthedirection of the line of the same, but also to allow one ormore sectionsto sway or oscillate in a direction lateral to the general line of thebreakwater, and thus not strain the whole line of the breakwater by awave much shorter than the whole length of the line. Besides this, incase a wave should strike the section composed of the piles A A A in thedirection of the arrow, this section would instantly sway toward theshore, thus enlarging the opening between the adjoining piles A A of thetwo sections, and the water rushing between them in much greater volumethan elsewhere between the piles composing the two sections, the powerof the wave will in a great degree be exerted to hold in an uprightposition the section composed of the piles A A A in opposition to thelateral sway of the section composed of the piles A A A and thus thevery power of the wave will become utilized to break down its own force.

B indicates a concrete anchor-block, to which the piles, at their lowerends, are securely o tion is fitted, as indicated by piles A and A;

or the entire pile may be a hollow iron tube, b, as signified by piles AA If the entire body of a pile is made of wood, as signified by thepiles A A or partly of wood, as shown by the piles A and A, then itshould he covered with a metal wrapper, so as to protect the wood fromthe salt-water worm.

In Fig. 1 a portion of the concrete anchorblock B is cut away, showingthe anchorrods x of the piles, which have eyes at their lower ends,through which, as shown, the tie-rod R is inserted before the concreteblock is moulded. The anchor-rods m, with their tie-rod R in place, aresuspended in the proper position in the mold in which the concrete blockis cast, and the liquid cement is then poured in and allowed to setfirmly around the rods :0 and B, said rods having first been coatedheavily with pitch or any pigment that will serve to prevent corrosion.The anchor-block B must be of a size and weight adequate to counteractthe buoyant effort of the piles and the drawing action of the waves,which would tend to displace it. After molding, this block B is placedin position upon the water-bed, and the piles are pivoted to it by adiver, with the universal jointM, as shown; or each pile may be attachedto the anchor-block on a boat provided with suitable derricks fordropping them into their positions.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the universal link M, with itspivot-bolts f f. These pivotbolts ff pass through the double lugs g onthe lower ends of the piles and double lu gs g on the anchor-rods a0 andthrough holes in the universal joint M, as

shown, and are held in place by bolts on screws, f tappedintothemthrough saidlugs; and in this manner the piles A A A and A A A composingtwo sections, as shown in Fig. 1, of a line of piles for a breakwater,are held in position at their lower ends to an anchor-block, B, when theuse of such block becomes necessary on account of the rocky bed of thebody of water in which the breakwater is be erected. When,however, thebed of the sea or other body of water in which my improved breakwater isto be erected is mainly or entirely of sand or earth I employ, forexample, piles constructed throughout as shown in perspective view, Fig.2, with which to make up a section of piles. In this view a hollow metalpile, P, having a metal cap, T, riveted upon its upper end, and with aferrule, T, upon its lower end, is shown. The cap T is provided with aring, t, and the ferrule T at its lower end terminates in an eye t, asindicated in said figure.

P indicates a short auxiliary screw-pile, made of metal, with its bodyportion, as at h, terminating at its upper end with an eye, t and itslower end provided with a screw having broad flanges, as at i i, inorder that it may seat itself with a firm bearing when screwed intothesand orearth bed of the body of waterin which the pileP is to beused. The pile P, it will be seen, is mounted upon the screw-pile P byhaving the eye t of the latter interlocked with the eye t of the former,thus allowing the pile to freely oscillate, and when thus mounted, theone upon the other, as shown, the ring t of the pile P affords the meanswhereby, with the use of a hand-lever, the auxiliary short screw-pile Pmay be screwed down firmly in the said bed, and so afford a propersupport for and hold upon the pile P. Sections of such piles, when usedfor a breakwater having a sandy foundation, composed of, say, six pilesto a section, will be provided with connecting-chains L, the same asshown in Fig. 1, while the adjoining piles of each section will be heldtogether with links Z, engaging with iron loops 1, bolted to the upperends of the piles, in the same manner as shown for the two sections ofpiles represented in Fig. 1.

The piles P may also with great advantage be used singly in roadsteadsand exposed places, to which vessels may tie up with greater securitythan they could get with the ordinary anchors with which they may beprovided.

The general operation of myim proved breakwater is as follows: Thepilesbeingconstructed and anchored, as described, off the shore to besheltered, with the piles composing each section connected together,from ten to fifteen inches apart, by links 1, and each section of a lineof piles composing the breakwater held together by chains L, offer justsufiicient resistance to break the waves as they strike the work withoutcausing the undercutting of the reflex waves, which occurs when thewaves break against a perpendicular wall, while from the yielding andbuoyant character of the piles the impact of the wave is expended in alldirections through thesurrounding water, as well as against the piles,the inertia of the lower and undisturbed strata of water in which thepiles oscillate also aiding to break the power of the waves.

Heretofore, among other modes of construction, breakwaters have beencomposed of a series of frames composed of two beams joined at theirlower ends and diverging upwardly from such ends in the form of a letterV, with buoys and louver-boards applied transversely to such beams,which beams, at their lower ends, are connected to an anchor by a boltand ring, and that said frames, at their top, have been connected byrods having eyes at their ends to take upon studs erected upon the uppertransverse buoys of the frames.

I would also state that I do not under this patent claim a mainsingle-column pile for breakwaters erected with a hinging-connectionupon an auxiliary screw-pile, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, sincesuch pile is adjudged to constitute the subject-matter of a separatepatent, which I propose to apply for.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Abreakwater composed of piles, each consistin g of a single column,as shown, connected together at or near their top by a link, Z, and withtheir lower ends hinged to a water-bed anchor, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

2. A breakwater having sin gle-column piles 3. The piles of abreakwater, in combination with a concrete block, B, having rods for theattachment of the piles set in the concrete block during the act ofcasting the block, substantially as described.

ROBERT M, FRANKLIN.

Witnesses L. E. TREZEVANT,

J. R. OoRYELL.

